BROOKLYN, Mich. – Sprint Cup Series drivers and team owners were called to a mandatory, closed-door meeting with NASCAR this morning before practice at Michigan International Speedway, one that drivers later characterized as a discussion of potential changes to the new model car.
The meeting with NASCAR President Mike Helton and other officials caught teams off-guard, forcing some to juggle their schedules and postpone media sessions scheduled for Friday morning. NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said the meeting was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
The unusual eight-minute meeting, which took place in a windowless garage room as NASCAR officials stood guard outside, was characterized by NASCAR as a reminder that drivers and NASCAR should focus on all the good things about the sport.
“We have more fans than ever before,” Hunter said. “We have more competitive teams than ever before. The racing is as good as it’s ever been. We have more drivers who can win on any given Sunday today than ever before. I think there are a lot of good things going on in the sport and sometimes they’re overshadowed.”
He characterized the conversation as being a reminder of what fans go through.
“We felt like this would be a good time to sit down, and [with] our ‘going-back-to-basics’ theme of the year, to remind them don’t forget the fans,” Hunter said. “The fans are really going through a lot of hardships with the price of gasoline and all the sorts of things they have to do to get to a race.”
Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that the frank discussions made him think twice about some of the criticism he has made about the new car and helped him recognize the impact that can have beyond the garage.
"I was pretty critical and overly critical at times, and the only reason why the drivers are like that is because they want, we feel like our best avenue is through the media because it's very effective. But at the same time, not only NASCAR reads those opinions, and it's not good for the sport," he said.
"If I enjoy what I do and I'm having fun and want to be here and want to be around for a while, I shouldn't tell people not to buy tickets."
He, like several other drivers, added that he felt good about the meeting and the things that were discussed.
Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said drivers were not told to stop criticizing the new car, which has been the target of numerous driver complaints over the past several weeks.
“No, they were simply reminded that we are a fan-friendly sport, and the participation of our fans affects them directly,” he said.
Drivers said that they were told to give the car some time. Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle says that NASCAR pointed out that the new car has not been driven at all the tracks yet and that his impression of the meeting was that drivers should see how it races somewhere before making sweeping statements about how the car will perform at all tracks.
"The message I got was, don't jump to conclusions on tracks, guys, we haven't even been to," he said. "They're talking about the car and the racing. I've heard some people get out of the car in victory lane and say nasty stuff, and I think they're case in point is, let's not speculate until we get there and race it, and then let's see how we can tweak on it to make it better. I think that's the message I got. It was cut and dried, plain and simple."
Others interpreted the meeting in the same manner.
“It was just about the car, and I think Mike [Helton] just wanted to make sure everyone is on the same page," Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin said.
"This is early in the building process, and we don’t need to rush to conclusions that this car is junk and it’s never going to be any good because that’s not going to be the case. As soon as these teams get it figured out a little bit and as soon as NASCAR tweaks on it and they’ve been open to tweaks. As soon as we’ve gone to the new car, they’ve always issued little things to try to help these teams make the car drive better.
Ultimately they want three-wide racing. They want to see side-by-side racing, and they are going to do whatever it takes to do that.
"In the future I think they are going to be open to the suggestions that us drivers are willing to give them, and it’s just a matter of time before we get back to the racing the way it was.”
